Ice Box

[Red Owl]

I posted on another thread about Thomas Jefferson and ice cream and that got me thinking. This would not be for long hunters and mountain men but would apply the American Revolution, etc. When did the ice box come into use? Mountain man Nathaniel Wyeth of Boston was in the ice business before going out to the Rocky Mountains so that would go back to the 1830's. Theoretically folks could have cut ice and stored in an ice house for hundreds of years but I haven't see any ice boxes, etc. in any of the old, historic homes I've seen. Only Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, he has a pit lined with brick, maybe 15' wide and 30 feet deep, enough ice storage to last the Summer.

 

[Tweeter and the MonkeyMan]

my understanding is that blocks of ice were cut in the winter from lakes and ponds, stored in an ice house with sawdust / straw insulation packed in between, around and on top the stacked blocks.

https://bellemeadeplantation.com/ice-houses-in-the-south/
Above link has a historical explanation from a plantation in TN.

 

[BackDraft]

my understanding is that blocks of ice were cut in the winter from lakes and ponds, stored in an ice house with sawdust / straw insulation packed in between, around and on top the stacked blocks.

https://bellemeadeplantation.com/ice-houses-in-the-south/
Above link has a historical explanation from a plantation in TN.

Yes, but I think the OP meant ’Ice Box’ as in, refrigerator.

 

[Tweeter and the MonkeyMan]

Oh that kind of ice box, the oldest ice box / refrigerator I have ever seen was a place I worked at that had a refrigerator made by General Motors and was actually labelled as Made By General Motors. The manufacturing date on one of plates on the back was 1954, I worked there in 2004 and it worked real well.

If my memory is correct it was a Frigidaire, but I could be mistaken.

 

[appalichian hunter]

Interesting Question, My father-in-law as a kid cut ice off the river, used a small, wooded sled to move it, the sled now has an honored place in front room. I would think the Ice then might have been perhaps kept in a cellar, root cellar or perhaps spring house for short term use. Just a SWAG

 

[ADK Bigfoot]

Pre-electric ice boxes were tin lined insulated chests with a drain in the bottom. Ice blocks were placed on the top of the internal tin box; melted water ran over the box and out the bottom, releasing cold. I believe the oldest one I have seen was at The Castle In The Clouds in New Hampshire. It was built in 1913, if I recall correctly.

ADK Bigfoot

 

[1950DAVE]

Had one that belonged to a great uncle who died in the late60's. It was still in use at his death. No electric in the house. Looked much like this when I refinished it and gave to one son.

 

[TDM]

I remember the old ice house we had in our small town. Only went inside it once with my Dad when I was young. Had the floor divided into sections with the cooling coils as I remember. And I certainly remember buying block ice into my early teens. Everybody owned ice picks back then. The main holiday I remember for ice was Independent Day, my folks would fill up a wash tub with soft drinks and chipped ice and then more chipped ice for homemade ice cream. Glory days.

 

[TransYank]

Yes, I to remember as a kid (I'm 65) Dad would takes us fishing and camping with Coleman metal coolers and Block ice that we used an ice pick to chip. I still use block ice on my boat when out fishing but just freeze clean 1 gallon plastic jugs and cut them off. P.S. Come to think of it I did get in fights at school and never thought I'll go home and get one to take someone out....

 

[tenngun]

Greeks Roman’s Aztecs and Chinese all used ice boxes. In the fourteenth century making ice-salt freezers were used in Italy, for dessert making
A few Rick in colonial time would have them and pubs/inns might have them. Not a big thing in most private homes

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I posted on another thread about Thomas Jefferson and ice cream and that got me thinking. This would not be for long hunters and mountain men but would apply the American Revolution, etc. When did the ice box come into use? Mountain man Nathaniel Wyeth of Boston was in the ice business before going out to the Rocky Mountains so that would go back to the 1830's. Theoretically folks could have cut ice and stored in an ice house for hundreds of years but I haven't see any ice boxes, etc. in any of the old, historic homes I've seen. Only Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, he has a pit lined with brick, maybe 15' wide and 30 feet deep, enough ice storage to last the Summer.

Thomas Moore created one in 1802, so that he could deliver chilled blocks of butter to his customers in warm weather.
It wasn't until 1827 that a really good tool for cutting ice out of frozen lakes and rivers was developed, and then it was about 1840 that mass produced ice boxes appeared because the tool allowed a uniform size block of ice to be cut.

LD

 

[LME]

Had one that belonged to a great uncle who died in the late60's. It was still in use at his death. No electric in the house. Looked much like this when I refinished it and gave to one son.
View attachment 237975

there was one of those in our farm house when we moved in? My grandfather had a refrigerater in the early 1900dreds so it must have been my Great grandfathers fathers?

 

[Red Owl]

Well, the reason I asked is because I like to visit any historic homes that may have tours, etc. and except for Monticello (Thomas Jefferson) I can't remember any that had an ice storage facility. I checked the net on the 1802 invention of an ice box for a home and the whole thing got me wondering. Theoretically the ancient Romans could have cut and stored ice.
Like everybody else, I remember as a child being told about the ice man who would come around selling blocks of ice, they would last 3-6 days or so and you could only store a few items. Root cellars, I think they date far back in time.

 

[Snydly]

I posted on another thread about Thomas Jefferson and ice cream and that got me thinking. This would not be for long hunters and mountain men but would apply the American Revolution, etc. When did the ice box come into use? Mountain man Nathaniel Wyeth of Boston was in the ice business before going out to the Rocky Mountains so that would go back to the 1830's. Theoretically folks could have cut ice and stored in an ice house for hundreds of years but I haven't see any ice boxes, etc. in any of the old, historic homes I've seen. Only Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, he has a pit lined with brick, maybe 15' wide and 30 feet deep, enough ice storage to last the Summer.

Up until I was 6 years old I lived in a town called Linch,, in central Wy. No electricity in the town... none. The men in town would travel to ponds and cut huge ice blocks and haul them to town and distribute them to citizens. We had an Ice house attached to the side of our house. The ice blocks total were about the size of a 3/4 ton pickup. Completely covered in sawdust. It would keep all summer long with almost no melting. When needed my mother would go to the ice house and with an ice pick she would remove a chunk the size of a gallon of ice cream carton. It went onto a tray at the top of the ice box. As it slowly melted the water would run down a drain tube to a pan at the bottom of the ice box. Orders were to not open the ice box unless you knew what you were looking for... not for browsing! I used the term "ice box" till I was a junior in high school,,long after we had a refrigerator. On a hot day some of the older boys would sneak into the ice house and snitch a chunk of ice... got caught the only time I tried it.

 

[beardedhorse]

Bent's Old Fort in Colorado operated from 1833 - 1849. They had an ice cellar to store ice. Could make lemonade with lemon syrup and Hailstorms with rum in the summer.. Young George Bent was admonished for hanging out in the ice cellar in the middle of the summer. My grandparents had a wood and tin lined ice chest similar to the one shown by 1950 DAVE. They clean up nice as my older brother salvaged it.

 

[Billy Boy]

my understanding is that blocks of ice were cut in the winter from lakes and ponds, stored in an ice house with sawdust / straw insulation packed in between, around and on top the stacked blocks.

https://bellemeadeplantation.com/ice-houses-in-the-south/
Above link has a historical explanation from a plantation in TN.

We’re still shipping some but it has tailed ff a bit..

 

[XVIIc Wheelock]

We still have our families ice box that was last used in 1948 if I remember. Now used to store junk. Here is good ole Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigerator

 

[Eutycus]

Is it just me or did soda waters taste better out of Dad's wooden ice chest?

 

[TDM]

Is it just me or did soda waters taste better out of Dad's wooden ice chest?

Much, much better!

 

[BlackRock52]

Up until I was 6 years old I lived in a town called Linch,, in central Wy. No electricity in the town... none. The men in town would travel to ponds and cut huge ice blocks and haul them to town and distribute them to citizens. We had an Ice house attached to the side of our house. The ice blocks total were about the size of a 3/4 ton pickup. Completely covered in sawdust. It would keep all summer long with almost no melting. When needed my mother would go to the ice house and with an ice pick she would remove a chunk the size of a gallon of ice cream carton. It went onto a tray at the top of the ice box. As it slowly melted the water would run down a drain tube to a pan at the bottom of the ice box. Orders were to not open the ice box unless you knew what you were looking for... not for browsing! I used the term "ice box" till I was a junior in high school,,long after we had a refrigerator. On a hot day some of the older boys would sneak into the ice house and snitch a chunk of ice... got caught the only time I tried it.

As a kid, our town had a "Ice House" --- Ice cut in winter and stored covered in sawdust in a thick walled building. Lots of people, especially the ones who lived in the 'country' had ice chests as they did not have electricity, or if they did, a refrigerator was too expensive. Outside of town, modern plumbing meant that the well pump was inside the house. My "off grid' uncle had a windmill with a generator and a basement room full of batteries for his 12 volt lighting system in his house. He kept a toilet seat on a hook behind the wood stove to take to the privy when it was cold outside. Seemed like a good idea when I was a kid but now kinda gross to think of a toilet seat in the kitchen!! He stacked his firewood along the privy path and you best not forget to bring a couple of pieces of wood with you when you came back to the house. And this was not 'way out in the sticks' -- it was central Minnesota about an hour north of Minneapolis. Then again, maybe that was the 'sticks'. (We did not have dial phones (in town) until I was 10. That would be in 1962.)